Is it real ?

There are moments during a restoration that stay with you forever, and this was definitely one of them.

A little while ago I sent off to Hannover to request the birth certificate for my 1955 VW Split Screen Bus. Waiting for the reply felt like waiting for a piece of its history to come home.

When the envelope finally arrived, it was far more exciting than I expected. Inside were all the details that had been lost to time – the exact date my bus left the factory, its original colours, where it was destined to go, and the specifications it carried when it first rolled off the production line over seventy years ago.

Reading through it gave me a real sense of connection with the bus, it had a documented past, a beginning, and an identity that had survived all these years.

It's hard to explain to someone who isn't into classic cars, but discovering these original details is like finding an old family photograph you've never seen before. It brings the vehicle to life in a completely different way and makes you appreciate just how much history you're preserving.